Ok It’s finally here!

The Final Chapter in

in

We start (as we have so many times before during this storyline) with Wally Giving a recap of the events of the last six issues. (as much as I love Mark Waid’s work particularly on Flash, even I was getting tired of The story so far at this point!.)
Intercut with Wally’s plot summary is The Reverse Flash coming in to deliver a death Blow
as they proceed to fight Wally wants to know how Thawne beat death. preferably without dying himself

Thawne then tells Wally that he hasn’t met Barry Allen yet (From Thawne’s perspective everything that’s happening with him is before…)

Thawne starts his story by asking Wally if he’s ever been to the 25th Century

Wally doesn’t believe the statement but listens as Thawne continues



Thawne then explained how he had replicated Barry’s accident to gain the Super-Speed powers

Unused to the difficulties of Time travel, Thawne found himself ravaged by the experience and when he arrived he found himself

Thawne then found his way to the Flash museum depressed at having missed his chance to meet his hero.


Upon seeing the exhibit however, Thawne was horrified to learn the identity and fate of the Reverse Flash.


The shock of seeing his own death as well as his still being disoriented by his time travel experience pushed Thawne into a traumatized state of delusion whereupon he believed…

Wally recognizes that this is why Hal Jordan’s Ring detected no deceit from “Barry” when he first reappeared. It was because Thawne himself believed in his dellsion to such a degree that he made it the truth.
Thawne is able to guess Wally’s plan at that point (to Return Thawne to his own time so that he lives out his destiny.) Thawne goes to destroy the cosmic treadmill to prevent it but Wally talks him out of it not because of a time paradox but because part of Thawne’s fanboy obsession won’t allow him to destroy the Holy grail of Flash collectibles!

At this moment, Hal, Johnny Quick and Max Mercury arrive to prevent him from Killing Wally.
Zoom gloats about how Hal’s ring is useless against someone clad in yellow as well as being able to vibrate through solid walls.
with Thawne gone, Wally and the others re-group at Jay’s hospital room.

Wally is prepared to go after Thawne but he insists that the others hold back and only come in to help if he fails to stop the reverse Flash.
Wally explains that Thawne’s boom was instrumental in his being able to pass as Barry for as long as he did. Johnny looks at the copyright date and Author Credit and sees something totally unexpected


It’s at that moment that Linda Park appears on the news in an interview with the mayor. unfortunately , Thawne arrives killing the Mayor and then bragging about how he, NOT Barry Allen, is responsible for the terrorism he has committed against Central City….

Wally races across town instantly


yup! I did it again. (Actually this was my first mingling of a classic Wally Page and a New52 Barry cover and I have to say it came out way better than I could have hoped (actually i like it even better than the original page because it really looks as if Flash is totally out of his league in this fight to the point where he can’t even lift a hand to defend himself against reverse Flash’s onslaught)
Thawne runs off once more while Linda tends to Wally.



Wally admits to himself that Max was right all along about being afraid of replacing Barry rather than succeeding him but Wally realizes that he has a worse fear….

Wally is now on an even footing with Thawne who is rattled at the thought of suddenly having a tougher fight on his hands. Thawne smashes Barry’s statue in Wally’s direction causing him to slip on the wet cement while evading the shards of broken marble.


Thawne’s confidence is shattered by the near miss, Wally is able to slap his former tormentor around berating Thawne for trying to drag Barry’s name through the mud. Thawne in sheer desperation claims to be Barry allen but Wally responds

Thawne whimpers for Wally to go ahead and finish him but Wally chooses instead to go to the cosmic treadmill and threatens to terrorize Thawne’s life at every turn

Thawne races to the cosmic treadmill and races back to his own time stream terrified. it’s then that Hal and the others arrive and congratulate Wally on his trick.
Wally tells them he didn’t time travel just yet he only jumped off the treadmill and hid to convince Thawne he was. Wally explains that when Thawne arrives back in his own time , his inexperience with time travel will leave him amnesiac about his experiences. Even if he does have some moment of the trip…


A few days later Wally and linda are walking past the Flash museum Wally reflects on disappointment of “Barry’s Return but admits that it did help him come to terms with Barry’s memory and also that , if nothing else, some good news came out of it. iris West was due to return sometime in the not so distant future as she was the the author of Barry’s Biography or would be as the publication date in the book shows that it would be written in 1997 (about four years from that point.)

Wally chooses to throw the book away rather than read about his own future.

Well, It’s been an awesome ride!
One of the things I liked best about the storyline is that it did two things. It solidified Wally’s right to wear the uniform of the Flash more than any adventure so far and it also gave us an opening for Barry Allen’s eventual genuine return. granted it would prove to be a very long time getting to that point but at least there was an element of hope. The End of the story did not have “Barry’s Dead! Let’s move on already!” written all over it.
See you all next Time!

This month in

We jump ahead a few years and look at Wally’s own Reverse Flash known simply as ZOOM!
Here’s the story so far…
Wally has Married Linda and they’re expecting their First child. Unfortunately not everyone’s life in Wally’s Circle has been as lucky.
Hunter Zolomon a former F.B.I. agent has been working with the Flash and the Keystone City Police for the last few months as their Meta-human profiler. During a recent attack on the city by Gorilla Grodd Hunter had been severely injured and lost the use of his legs. Hunter asked Wally to use the Time Treadmill to go back and prevent Hunter’s injuries. Wally of course refused. in desperation Hunter went to the Flash Museum and attempted to activate the treadmill himself.
This takes us into Part One of The Blitz storyline in this Month’s issue….


Hunter Zolomon is in the hospital thinking about his career as a profiler which he took up to find an answer why his father murdered his mother. (hmmmm sounds familiar)
in Hunter’s mind Wally doesn’t understand tragedy.
Hunter dwells on how his growing up was quiet and his parents never spoke.

Hunter went on to college and met a girl named Ashley. They became a couple graduated college and joined the F.B.I. where her father was an Agent that specialized in Metahuman criminal psychology.
Hunter and Ashley would go on to be married. a few weeks later tragedy would strike.
In the hospital Hunter finds himself getting hot and thirsty having spilled his glass of water

Hunter views Flash’s refusal as being a reaction to fear. He remembers Eobard Thawne the Reverse Flash who was Barry Allen’s enemy

It’s interesting to note here that while Hunter acknowledges the reality of time travel and even wanted to use it to erase the tragedies of his own life he’s unwilling to accept that Barry Allen stayed in another time period for his own retirement.
Hunter continues his own history by remembering that he had chosen to follow in his Father-in-Law’s footsteps by becoming a profiler that focused on Rogue Metahumans and costumed Criminals. hunter was growing Over confident as a result of his success in the field until a Circus Clown turned Serial killer had begun murdering former associates in Kansas city.



Hunter suddenly realizes that his water glass never hit the ground. also…

Hunter steps out into the hall to find everything frozen in place

Hunter thinks at first that he’s losing touch with reality until he realizes that this is his opportunity to teach wally West a lesson in Tragedy.



This is the beginning of several different themes in the Flash that would transition from Wally’s world, to Barry’s.
The theme of a Father murdering a Mother leaving their son alone in the world.
The theme of having a Villain working against a hero to “Make him a better hero”
and finally, the theme of having a hero be required to endure a great tragedy. (The Batman-ization of Heroes)
The thing is: As much as I personally disagree with these concepts as they apply to heroes i find that Hunter Solomon aka ZOOM II follows a rule that is paramount for Villains in any kind of Fiction
This rule was first expressed by P.S. Michael Hayes known as the leader of the Wrestling Team: the Fabulous Freebirds.
“A Bad Guy Has to believe he’s right. No Matter how screwed up his logic might be.”
Well, we’ll see where this Logic leads next month. Until then, Happy Halloween!

Hey all, , It’s another ….

And after reading today’s issue of the FLASH With NuWally’s back-up story
I thought it was appropriate that we went Back in Time to the Early Days of TruWally’s career as Kid Flash

First off is of Course Wally’s origin.
in FLASH #110

Wally is introduced fairly quickly. Barry is expecting Iris who has someone she wants to introduce to Barry

Iris is hoping Barry can introduce Wally to his hero (iris is still not yet aware of Barry’s Identity)

Barry Explains to Wally that Flash sometimes uses Barry’s Home Laboratory as a base and suggests Wally go introduce himself
When Wally turns away to dos Barry quickly changes into his Flash suit, speeds past Wally and phases through the Wall to be present as the flash

Wally immediately starts asking questions about Flash’s powers and Flash explains how he got them, when…..

Copy-cat origins at this point in DC’s History were mind-numbingly common which is why i can see them wanting to change Wally’s up a bit for the New52 version
Flash tests Wally’s speed and then presents him with a spare ring and costume….

While Flash is out Kid-Flash catches a radio broadcast about Zoo animals escaping and he rushes over to help and practice using his speed


After Kid Flash has all the animals safely re-caged we find that his name has gotten out (without any on-page introduction.)

(Perhaps Flash did some statement to the press when he arrived after Kid Flash left the scene?)

In the Next Issue, Wally Has his First solo adventure…

Wally wakes up thinking the events of the last issue were just a dream. However, when he hears the school-bell ring….


Wally is thrilled with the realization that he really is Kid Flash and almost gives himself away in Gym class


On his way Home Wally runs into one of his friends who is in a “Gang”


(It’ll be interesting to see if NuWally has an updated experience with present day gangbangers)

Kid Flash phases into the clubhouse and uses his speed to watch the secret meeting unseen

The Crows throw rocks at the Eagles clubhouse causing a second “rumble” when a fire breaks out due to a kerosene lamp being knocked over

Kid Flash speeds into action and..


After the Fire is snuffed out by Kid Flash’s whirlwind Wally writes down an account of the day’s adventure and goes to mail the letter

(Interesting that Wally has no problem delivering mail without postage! In the screen tests for Superman the Movie, that was a big No-No according to the Man of Steel!)
The Flash is impressed with Wally’s account and decides that Wally has proven himself worthy as a protege.

Final Comments:
Wally’s steadfast morality is unquestioningly established early on here. Right from the start all he can think of after he receives his powers is how he can help people.
It also seems that in the early days Wally had as much of a habit of wearing bowties as his mentor.
SpeedForce.org noted that TV-Wally was invited to live “at Home” in the latest episode but as yet was still not entrusted with Barry’s dual identity.
I’m sure this is a temporary situation and it seems it will be dealt with very soon but I should point out that Wally had to wait several months after becoming Kid Flash the First time around before he would be let in on the big secret.
(But that’s a few posts down the road!)
For now I will say that It’s nice that NuWally’s getting his own little Back-up storyline the same way TruWally did.
I certainly hope that this will continue after Rebirth (I also hope we’ll eventually get an All-Flash or Speed Force book that opens the Door to the Pre-Flashpoint DCU proper and lets us have TruWally OG-Barry and the rest still running around as they were…but that’s why I’m still keeping up this Blog)

It’s a day of CELEBRATION here on

WARNING!!!!!
This Month’s installment has SPOILERS!!!!!


IF YOU HAVEN”T READ DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH #1…(or the Spoiler heavy articles surrounding it)

DO NOT READ THIS ENTRY!!!!!!


I never thought it would come to this. In fact, i thought I was going to have a harder time than before when pictures of nuWally in the Classic Kid Flash suit started circulating.
I've made a conscious effort over the last five years to stay hopeful and really fight the feeling of hopelessness that we'd never see Classic Wally again.
And DC hasn't made things easy on that front either.

First there was the whole Wally who? bit they pulled at the Comic Con panels when the New52 was starting.
then the whole litany of follow up comments/excuses
"No plans for Wally...concentrating on the Iconic Flash, Barry Allen (Tell that to everyone who sings the Flash Gordon theme whenever Flash is mentioned…Barry Allen isn’t as Iconic as the Defender of the Universe)....Wally's history too bogged down in Barry association..Barry's on the TV show.....plans for him to be in the movie.....etc"
Then The ending of the Animated Series, Young Justice....Wally dies Barry Allen style saving the world because he's not fast enough?!? (talk about twisting the knife!)
Everyone had ideas about where in the Multiverse was Wally West?
i wrote two short story ideas down.
One where Wally was stuck in a Limbo not unlike the Metrolpois that played home to the Golden Age Superman and Lois Lane, Superbly Prime and Alexander Luthor from COIE-Infinite Crisis
The other Being a story where Wally had returned to the New52 DCU in secret and was known to his Aunt Iris but was as yet unrecognized by Barry Allen. With a mysterious Evil force that has altered the Universe to their own malicious Ends (Part of me wanted to have various characters call this central Villain “The Idiot!” at various points as a not so subtle reference to my own derisive nickname for Dan Didio (Didio(t)=D-Idiot)

Then Came Convergance.... I gotta say, it really felt like Didio and Lee were giving the fans a wildly royal Middle finger by having a Pre-Flash:Rebirth Wally Jai and Iris II appear for the Convergence event and then shuffling them off unceremoniously back into Limbo.
I was on the verge of dropping everything DC presently offered several times by this point and concentrating on collecting back issues from the good old days.

Then there were rumors that wally West was finally being set up to join the DCNU. It would be a de-aged Wally though…. A teenager who would go on to become Kid Flash eventually.
At this point everyone started thinking about how Wally should be introduced and get his powers. Should it be the same way as before? Barry and Iris are no longer a couple so how will this change the dynamic between Barry and Wally?
My personal ideas included taking a page from Justice League Unlimited and having Wally be a Junior Lab Rat under Barry’s supervision at the Crime Lab (similar to Greg Saunders to Gil Grissom on CSI)
His powers would come as a result of a fight between Barry and the rogues (I specifically thought Weather Wizard would be a perfect choice for generating the necessary conditions)

It then started leaking out that Wally would be different. And when the differences were clarified it immediately started a war of words. Wally was being Racially shifted from Caucasian to African American. long-time fans were furious that an established character was being casually flipped. While stalwart Anti-Wally commenters were saying Barry is THE FLASH! there’s no need for Wally at all. Others still said there should be a Non-Caucasian Speedster but that it should be a wholly original character and not just an altered character from before. (Funny that no-one raised these comments about Wally Weeks aka Ripcord in G.I.Joe) Worse than his racial alteration, Wally’s attitude would be drastically altered. instead of Being the President (and sole member) of the Flash fan club in his hometown of Blue Valley Nebraska, NuWally would be instead, an inner City Kid who hated the Flash for putting his Uncle(now Father) Daniel West behind bars. NuWally would be a far cry from his Classic predecessor. The character eventually shifted back into a proper flash-Fan but he still wasn’t what long-time fans wanted. I suggested that somewhere NuWally had an older half-Brother that was more recognizable and that eventually NuWally would take a different name. (Julio Mendez? btw that idea’s still on the table!)

Then, a few short months ago,
Wally was struck by an energy blast caused by Barry’s Vibration powers backfiring against a forcefield. (and it was a little too similar to my previously mentioned ideas of how a New52-ized version of Classic Wally could be empowered.)
I actually posted a comment on this occurrence and the idea that maybe DC was reading my posts on the message boards
it was revealed that Dc would be launching Rebirth and cancelling all of the long-running Titles in order to restart them with New #1s
My first thought was...."So from now on, no title is allowed more than 52 issues just to bring in new fans every 4-5 years? This is just about the last straw!
It was later revealed that the Pre-Flashpoint Superman would be joining this universe after the events in rebirth. this interested me and re-ignited the flickering match of hope that TruWally would return.
After all, Pre-Flashpoint Earth would be surprised to meet NuWally wouldn't he?
I started thinking about the possibilities of Bringing TruWally back again (maybe the way Justice league Unlimited had swapped John Stewart for Hal jordan in the once and future thing)
Unfortunately I read about a month or so ago that NuWally was here to stay despite the fans fervent wishes to bring back TruWally.

Well this past weekend, a Preview of Today’s DC rebirth #1 would finally include the return of Classic Wally West in all his glory. Wearing his recognizable Kid Flash uniform but still retaining his Pre-Flashpoint memories.
Interestingly Wally’s return has elements my Limbo story and the idea of the dark overseer to the New52’s creation from the second short.
Geoff Johns, who wrote the book made a bold statement that he would personally refund the money of any one who bought the book and weren’t satisfied. (I commented saying that there are some who would buy the book and verbally tear it to shreds just to rip into Johns for the sake of ripping into a person) I personally am not such a person as A) I’ve always tried to be the High-Road taking voice of reason and positive constructive ideas and B I really enjoyed the story i was reading (to the point that I actually willingly bought it both Digitally and in Hard-Copy!)

I’m really on the fence about continuing on with this thread. the whole purpose was always to keep Classic Wally West Appreciation alive so that we would get him back as he was or close to it anyway.
needless to say the Impact may have been negligible but the desired result has been achieved.
should i say Mission accomplished and be done with it? Or should i continue on and focus now on the Classic/Wally/NuWally adventures and see what comes out of this.
let me know what you think.
Until Next time…(if there is one!)
May the Speed Force be with you!